$3 SEPTA fares and dramatic service cuts loom as the agency lobbies for more state money

If the state doesn’t come through with more money for public transit, people should brace for $3 SEPTA fares and a 20% cut in service, to the bare “essential” levels in place during the early days of the COVID pandemic, SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richards told the Pennsylvania House Transportation Committee on Tuesday.

“We’re on the brink,” Richards said.

It marked the first time that SEPTA has publicly attached specific figures to the potential rider impact of its looming fiscal crisis, which Richards and others have previously warned would be severe without intervention from the Pennsylvania legislature.

The authority projects a $240 million annual deficit starting in July 2024 as the last of federal pandemic aid for transit systems runs out. And while SEPTA’s gap is larger, transit executives from Pittsburgh and agencies serving rural areas in the state told lawmakers they also need a stable source of state funding to help maintain service.

They’re pushing for a proposal that would allocate to the Public Transportation Trust Fund 6.4% of the money generated by the sales tax, up from 4.4%, generating an additional $295 million annually for transit operations across the state. The sales tax itself would not increase.

SEPTA estimates that it would get an additional $190 million annually, with a $65.6 million increase for Pittsburgh Regional Transit and $38.8 million more for other systems, based on the state’s funding formula.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County, the ranking Republican on the committee, said rural members of his party ask him why SEPTA hasn’t raised its own fares in years to put itself on a more solid footing and also express concerns about crime and spending decisions by the agency.

“That’s the perception of mass transit. It’s hard to get them excited to vote to fund … another financial investment package, to be up front,” Benninghoff said, adding that he recognizes the importance of mass transit and favors doing something to help with funding. “I’m probably being more candid than some people want me to be, but I think we have to be realistic.”

Richards painted funding aid as an investment in Southeastern Pennsylvania, which provides about 40% of the state’s tax revenues and much of its economic growth. She said the cost of inaction would be to deprive state and local governments of $254.7 million annually as SEPTA service declined and shed more riders, and the region ground to a halt.

“This is a good deal,” she said, and “it’s not just a SEPTA ask.”

The sales tax proposal could be enacted quickly if it were included as part of the fiscal code, legislation that accompanies the state budget and directs how its spending is financed. But it’s unclear where the proposal stands in the private negotiations among leaders of both party caucuses in the House and Senate.

It must be passed before the legislature adjourns for the year in December.

“This change would improve every single type of transit system’s ability to meet their immediate future operating needs” and serve people who rely on them, said Rich Farr, executive director of Rabbit Transit in York County, representing the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association.

State governments recently stepped in with more money to help the New York and Boston transit systems avoid the looming fiscal cliffs in their jurisdictions. Transit agencies around the country have been facing budgetary challenges as they spend the last of the $69 billion handed out in three rounds of pandemic aid. Nationwide, ridership has not bounced back to its pre-pandemic levels.

Micah Fiedler, 5th Square transit organizer and SEPTA bus rider, said, “What’s at stake is not only the financial wellness of our commonwealth, but equitable access to jobs, school, health care, and essential services.”

”We are angered by Pennsylvania state legislators letting this transit fiscal problem fester and jeopardizing access for riders and voters alike,” he said.